HOW IT FEELS TO BE RUN OVER (1900)
Article 4147 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 2-3-2013
Directed by Cecil M. Hepworth
Featuring May Clark and Cecil M. Hepworth
Country: UK
What it is: Trauma by proxy

Oh, is that car coming straight for me? Yes, it is! They’re waving at me to move, but I can’t!! What’ll I do??? What’ll I do???????!

You die… or, at least the camera does. What we have here is your basic trick short in which a camera has been set up to catch the view of an automobile racing straight towards you and hitting you. Actually, I’m a bit curious as to how it was done, unless the camera itself was sacrificed in the making of the film. And I’m still not quite sure of the significance of the phrase “Oh, Mother will be pleased.” Nonetheless, this is an amusing silent short. Still, I’m not quite sure if there’s any fantastic content here; being hit by a car is horrible, but it’s not quite in the realm of horror, and though it could be argued that the final words are those of the camera (making it a fantasy), the camera is merely a substitute for the viewer. It’s an odd little silent short.